Footnote 1: I can accept or reject incoming calls via the watch. Footnote 2: The Fossil app now supports all app notifications, not just a select few. This was added around Dec 20th. Footnote 3: Having your phone connected to your smartphone all day long may reduce your phone's battery life a small amount, but according to the phone the app has only used just 8-mah of power this week -- less than 1%. It does take up 150-mb of RAM memory though, so older phones with less than 2-gb of memory may see a greater battery life hit. Footnote 4: The watch-band is not made entirely of leather; it's like silicone with leather stitched to it on top. I just mention that in case it wasn't obvious from the video close-ups.
On Android, it only supports phone calls from the dialer app (through your carrier). Hangouts Dialer goes through Hangouts and is Voice over IP, and no other VoIP apps work either, for example Google Voice. I notice you're using an iPhone though, so it's possible that it works with VoIP apps because of CallKit. I know apps like Google Voice and Duo audio calls are Callkit-compatible, have you tried those? You can use GV instead of Hangouts usually, and it has actually better quality/latency because Google upgraded the backend, but that only applies to the GV app, not Hangouts.
It would be nice for them to add a digital clock as a widget. That helps with getting precise time in a glance. Also, they can experiment with colour e-paper for the next generation of the watch.
you can. there's a widget for the time of an alternative city. You can just set it for your current city so its basically a digital clock on your watch face
Angultra I’m not sure if this happens every single time someone signs up on fossil.com, but when I signed up they emailed me a 25% off coupon. It says in the small print that it doesn’t apply to smart watches, however it worked for this hybrid one!
As a Pebble owner(unfortunately the rubber buttons got dry and is falling apart) , it seems this is a watch with similar functionalities, E-ink, long battery life, text notifications (not only alerts), how long do the text notifications stay on the screen? can you re-read them after they disappear ?
I really enjoyed your review! Your voice is calming and pleasant to listen to, and the only criticism I have is sometimes your pacing shifts and throws me off temporarily. Still, this was exactly the kind of review I was looking for for this watch, and I appreciate that you included information that a lot of bigger RU-vidrs didn't cover, for example the more detailed measurements you took at the beginning tend to be hard to find elsewhere (i.e. lug to lug measurements, or a lengthy capture of the glow in the dark hands.) I look forward to other tech reviews you post in the future, and I'll recommended this video to anyone interested in the watch.
As much as I would love to have this watch, activity tracking is a big must for me. It keeps me motivated where I wouldn't be otherwise. I just got the Watch Active 2 off amazon for 250 and I was willing to pay the 50 extra dollars for a watch that will keep up with me. If fossil can get a watch like this with more competent workout tracking, and about 3mm thinner I will be all over that.
Do WhatsApp notifications appear complete with the iphone ?. If a person sends you several whatsapp messages, do they all appear on the watch screen? Great review!!!
Does the middle button have a click to it like the top and bottom buttons, or is it more of a deep push with a soft click after only pushing it all the way in? I just received mine and wasn't sure if that's how they are designed, or if I received a defective one. Great Review !
Great video Steve! For me the biggest issue currently with this watch is that I cannot put it in airplane mode (disable bluetooth). I am a person that still has some concerns about the dangers of the wireless frequencies and I like to deactivate the bluetooth during my sleep time. It's a pity that I cannot. :(
Understood. I never would have considered that but it makes sense to have that ability. Taking the watch off and leaving it in a metal box will block the Bluetooth signal, but you won't be able to wear it then at night. Perhaps unpairing it could work as well, but that sounds like quite a bit of effort to do daily.
@@steve_seguin You are right, I can do something like putting the watch somewhere else. With my previous hybrid watch ( a Garmin vivomove hr) it was very easy to disable the bluetooth directly from the watch. I contacted Fossil 2 times for this feature, but it does not seem to be something that they will implement in this model. (They said that they will consider this feature for a future model)
When i first noticed this watch i also thought that this is the best watch for me yet, e-ink, long battery life but not as basic as other hybrid watch, i wanted to buy it too. BUT interestingly enough what every reviewer forgets to mention is that the watch doesn't just mirror all your notifications like android wear watch would, it has a list of 13 firmly set apps that it is compatible with, it will not give you notifications for any othe app. The most important for most people are there like whatsapp, email, messenger, etc. But for example no Instagram or i am a bit privacy concerned so i use Telegram as my main chatting platform and that wouldn't work with it or any other not so well known apps that you might use. And this fact sadly renders this watch useless for me.
Thank you for mentioning that; it seems to be a sticking point for many users that I didn't consider as an issue. Hopefully Fossil addresses this in an upcoming update: they pushed an update just today and more are expected. I see currently support on Android for Instagram, Calendar, Fit, Gmail, Hangouts, Snapchat, Twitter, Whatsapp, Messenger, Facebook, WeChat, Weibo, and Line. I have tried to include that fact in the Footnotes that there is a limited set of apps supported currently: I have pinned in it in the comments. In the video I show a list of supported apps and Fossil is adding more apps to their list, but I didn't bring attention to the fact that the list is quite limited still. It would be nice if they could eventually support all notifications. For me personally all the apps I use are supported, with the exception of Slack, and that hasn't been an issue yet. If I really need support for Slack I could use a service like Zapier to send me a notification via a Twitter direct message. I've wrote my own services for this in the past, such as a service that forwards iMessages to Slack. In some ways I am finding the Fossil HR watch to be an 'anti-smartwatch'. It feels more designed for watch lovers, and perhaps iOS users, rather than for Android users. Android users tend to be power users and this watch doesn't really appease that market. Anyways, that's just may take on it. Thank you for your comment, btw. Much appreciated.
@@steve_seguin Oh yes I hope that this will get solved with software updates as it is still the only smart watch i considered buying. I just want it to give me notifications and have some handy features like ringing my phone when i lose it somewhere and to be maybe able to control my music without the need to pull out my phone from pocket, I won't even use the workout features all that much. As other watches go, only Samsung gear caught my attention since it still looks more or less like a watch but the 1 day battery is just no go for me. That is why this watch is so appealing. Btw just because most powerusers are on android it doesn't mean that all andoird users are powerusers. In a lot of places most people uses android just for daily tasks because it's just more reasonably priced. Anyhow, thank you for your reply and the review, it has been pretty helpful and detailed. I just wanted to raise this one thing up.
Is one of 44 apps is to be added by year end.... www.androidpolice.com/2019/11/19/fossil-hybrid-hr-review-this-hybrid-smartwatch-is-off-to-a-rough-start/
"fully charging" it before bed with a UV light, I woke up 6-hours later and there was still enough light to see it fine in the dark. Turning the bedroom lights on when I got up for a bit though destroyed my nightvision and I was not able to see the lume well enough when returning to bed with the lights back off. I see the lume glow when I come indoors after being outdoors in sunlight for a few minutes. It doesn't seem to glow much at all after being exposed to just indoor LED lighting however, so if you're a software developer who never actually goes outside, you might never even realize there is lume on it.
Is there any way in keeping your watch connected to your phone every couple hours my disconnects and I have to go into profile and re active it how do I keep it connected
Just one thing wrong with it - It doesn't come with a natural colored steel case! Would be so nice in natural steel on mesh strap. I'm not a fan of colored cases whether it being black or gold. I want it colored through out (solid steel, gold or even bronze). No plating that can be worn off - it looks even worse than scratched in solid materials.
Does this watch still work without being connected to my phone? Obviously the notifications won't work but does the step counter, heart monitor, and time still work? I ask because sometimes I like to leave my phone at home to disconnect for the day but I'd still like to be able to tell time at least.
I have two complains. You have to guess how much battery life has. It doesn't have a sleep option. At night, vibrates on every notification, even if the watch is on sleep mode.
@@steve_seguin thanks. I would like to know if "Dark Brown Leather" & "Black Silicone" 's e-ink screens are the same color. Because the official promotional images show that they are in different colors. Do you know that? Dark Brown Leather: fossil.scene7.com/is/image/FossilPartners/FTW7008_main?$sfcc_fos_large$ Black Silicone: fossil.scene7.com/is/image/FossilPartners/FTW7010_main?$sfcc_fos_large$
the day of the week as digits, but last I checked there is no digital time. Updates have improved the watch over time though; seems like it would be possible to add a digital time on it at some point.
It's harder than plastic and softer than sapphire. Based on my own experience with past mineral glass watches, after a several months of use you may find a few very light scratches on the face. Only way to be sure though is to try scratching it. :)
I use it and my phone with Bluetooth speakers all the time. Even had the ability to change music from the watch. Pairs easily; just press the middle watch button when it says to after opening the fossil app. Only needs to do this once. Make sure you have a newer phone that supports Bluetooth 5.0, etc, else I can make no promises.
@@BenBensen293 Apologies; I've tested it with Bluetooth and my Android phone. I could test it with my iPhone too, but I don't have airPods and use my iPhone mainly for app development. I do have bluetooth headphones, bluetooth car audio, and bluetooth speakers. I am listening to music while driving, via Bluetooth, and I get notifications to my watch.
@@BenBensen293 I do a lot of things; mainly software innovation. I sometimes need to make mobile apps to prototype concepts out. Recently one to detect if a person is under the influence of cannabis or alcohol using machine learning, just as an example.
I would not call this a smart watch. It can't do very much. You can't make or take calls on it, you can't reply to messages on it, there's no WiFi connection, you can't swim with it, it has no altimeter/barometer, no GPS, for climbers or trekkers. It's just a watch with fitness sensors that, according to tests I've seen aren't even accurate. Better to get something like a Galaxy Watch or Active Watch 2, which are real smart watches, up to 4 days battery life on the Active, 5 to 7 days on the Galaxy Watch. It's better to charge every 4 days and have something useful, than every 2 weeks and have a half assed device.
